Long ribbons of orange-brown oil spotted 4 miles from Tampa Bay coast (Photos)

[amerfayed]

Source: Bay News 9

Two men spotted what they think could be oil from the BP disaster off a Pinellas County beach while returning home from a fishing trip Sunday morning.

The men, Steve Weiss and David Mokotoff, said they were about four to five miles off Pass-a-Grille beach when they spotted what they believed was an oil sheen on the water.

“We saw this ribbon of orange brown material,” Mokotoff said. “Steve initially thought it might be discharge from somebody’s boat, but then when we got closer it was so long, even though it wasn’t wide we thought about the oil spill and decided to take a closer look at it.” ...

“It smelled like oil, so we went back to investigate and, unfortunately, it felt like oil,” Weiss said. “We touched it; you couldn’t get it off your hands.”

Read more: http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/oil-4-miles-off-tampa-bay

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They saw this Sunday which was 6/13

on 6/13 NOAA scientists said:

“As we approached, we found an extensive oil slick that stretched about 20 nm (20 miles) along the southward flowing jet which merged with the northern front of the Loop Current. …

“The combination of models and satellite images, along with our shipboard observations and ROFFS daily analysis had helped us to identify and study this previously unidentified oil plume located off Florida’s southwest coast and heading toward the Tortugas.”

Didnt day how far off the SW FL coast though.

[MineralMan]

1. Getting into the Loop Current is a very bad thing.

I'm very unhappy to hear this.

[liberal N proud]

2. I was hoping the stuff would stay away from those beaches

I have a trip planned to Clearwater in July to see my daughter.

:cry: Beautiful white sand, the turtles of Egmont Key and Fort Desoto. :cry:

[Dr.Phool]

5. Fort DeSoto is beautiful.

I live up by Tarpon Springs, and I go down there fairly regularly.

Two years ago, some friends came down from up north, and we took them there. We took a walk out on the fishing pier by the fort. There was a GIANT manta ray relaxing in the shallow water. Further out on the pier there were a couple of pods of dolphins feeding, and about 6 juveniles playing and jumping a splashing. Amazing to watch.

That was one of the happiest days of my life.

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. And so begins chapter two. n/t

[defendandprotect]

4. Tampa is above Sarasota . . . . and pretty far down ... map here ...

http://www.visitfloridamaps.com/floridamaps/florida-highways-roads.php

Scroll down for map of Florida --




Evidently, not hugging coastline which might give them some time to prepare?

Or am I misunderstanding location and approach?

[malaise]

7. Hopefully this mass of bad weather

won't make this worse

[highplainsdem]

6. If it reaches the bay, it could shut down the desalination plant & possibly the power plant.

May 12 article on that from Bay News 9:

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/5/12/618273.html

That says Tampa Electric's Big Bend power plant will be able to keep surface oil out, and it pulls water from below the surface. But of course a lot of this oil is coming in well below the surface.